NOVEMBER 2015

NEWSLETTER4701-52nd Avenue - Yellowknife, NT - X1A 2N8

Phone: (867) 669-0773 - Fax: (867) 873-3630www.sjf.yk1.nt.ca

principal’s messageWinter is here…we just could not hold it off any longer. With

the winter and freezing rain we are reminded of the slippery roads. To the students that drive to school; be cautious and drive safely. Our school drop-off area and parking lot is a busy area. Please drive and walk carefully in our school zone.The month of November is filled with so much excitement

for Sir John, beginning with the Spike It Volleyball tournament which has begun and will continue to take place this weekend. Good luck to all of our Falcon participants. After two months of hard work and preparation, the Sir John drama department is thrilled to present for you, the Children’s Theatre performance of Flat Stanley. Be sure to get your tickets early! Our Remembrance Day Assembly will take place on Tuesday, October 10, 2015 at 10:40am. Reminder there is no school on November 11, 2015.Grad 2016 is only eight months away….yes that is not far off.

We will be hosting a parent information meeting for those who have a child that will be potentially graduating this June. The meeting will cover what happens on the road to graduation. Our school guidance counselors will be present to review grad requirements and answer any questions. This meeting will take place on Monday, November 16 at 7pm in our gymnasium.The Falcons go head to head with the Irish on Wednesday,

November 18, 2015 at the 31st annual Challenge Cup. This special event is put on for the students by the Student Council to showcase Falcon talents and school spirit. Students are required to be in attendance. There will be buses available to students who need transportation to the rink.We held our Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews on October 28

and 29, 2015. If you were unable to attend but would like to speak to a teacher, guidance counselor and/or administrator please do not hesitate to contact us at (867) 669-0773.As the temperature cools, be sure to

bundle up and stay warm!

IMPORTANT DATESNovember 1

Spike It 2015 Volleyball Tournament

November 4Grade 9 Take Your Kid to Work Day

November 4 - 7SJF Drama Production: Flat Stanley

November 6SIP Day NO SCHOOL

November 11Remembrance Day NO SCHOOL

November 12thPAC Meeting 12pm - Board Room

November 18thChallenge Cup 1pm - 5pm EJ Arena

FOR MORE DETAILS SEE CALENDAR ON LAST PAGE.

Mr. Dean MacInnis

STAYCONNECTED!

Website: www.sjf.yk1.nt.caFB: www.facebook.com/yk1sjf

Twitter: @sjf_school

crunch nwtthe great big

how do you like

• 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air; that’s why they float.

• Apples contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol and are a good source of fiber.

• Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.

them apples?

On October 5, 2015 Food First delivered 4,000 apples to all the schools in Yellowknife. The point of this is to have all our students aware of the value of an apple for their health and to help shape how they snack.

band & choir

Participation in a music ensemble is said to lower stress, improve social connections, build self-esteem and raise test scores!

The choir and band have been working hard towards their Remembrance Day debut performance. They will be performing O Canada together and then have their separate feature numbers. With our Holiday concert not far away we are already practicing some traditional tunes. Students in the guitar classes and instrumental music classes as well at the all school band and choir will perform in the Holiday concert on December 15 at 7 PM at NACC. We hope that you will join us for our performances!

did you know?

student council

In order to honour the Toronto Blue Jays making the MLB playoffs for the first time in 22 years Student Council hosted a Blue Jays Day on October 8. Staff and students were encouraged to support the Blue Jays by wearing either Blue Jays merchandise or by dressing in blue.

blue jays day

GO

Student Council is already hard at work planning spirit days, restocking the Falcon Nest with new gear, and planning Halloween events such as a costume contest and Fear Factor. Check out next month’s newsletter for more updates! President

Vice President

SecretarySecretary

TreasurerTreasurer

Grade 12 RepGrade 12 Rep

Grade 11 Rep

Grade 10 RepGrade 10 Rep

Grade 9 RepGrade 9 Rep

Fine Arts RepFine Arts Rep

Sports RepSpirit Rep

James Thomas Bethany Giovanetto

Megan VuEmily Andrews

David PhypersAlly MacInnis

Beverley RockwellAyesha Barlas

Urbah Syed

Hunaifa MalikNoah Hache

Diana Rockwell Sonali Sivakumar

Cynthia LalondeTerrence Leopoldo

Kimberly Walcer Alisha Breton

MEET THIS YEAR’SCOUNCIL MEMBERS!

(THIS WAS A STUDENT COUNCIL ORGANIZED EVENT!)

GOJays

On Monday, October 19 Canadians voted for change when they elected the Liberal Party and Justin Trudeau to lead the country for the next four years.Four days earlier, the students at Ecole Sir John Franklin High School gave us a preview of what was to come.

On Thursday, October 15, students at Sir John participated in a school wide mock election, Student Vote 2015. Every student in the school was given the opportunity to vote for whichever of the four federal candidates that they wanted to represent the Northwest Territories. To help prepare for the vote students were

encouraged to use websites like votecompass.ca and pollenize.org to learn about the political platforms of each political party and to find out which party aligned most closely with their own beliefs. Summaries of each party’s platforms were also posted around the school to help inform students before they voted.In conjunction with Student Vote, all four candidates were invited to come to the school and speak to the students. Unfortunately only two of the four were able to come to the school. Both John Moore of the Green Party and Dennis Bevington of the New Democratic Party came and spoke to groups of grade 11 and 12 students. Though representing different parties both candidates shared a message of hope for change and the need for today’s youth to be aware of the issues and to be actively involved in all levels of political engagement including voting. Based on the results of Student Vote 2015, the level of political engagement and awareness of the students at Sir John is pretty high. In total, 392 students cast a ballot. 344 voted for one of the four candidates while 48 chose to spoil their ballot rather than vote for any one of the candidates.

THE RESULTS OF VOTE ARE AS FOLLOWS:Michael McLeod-Liberal Party119 votes 34.6%Dennis Bevington-NDP115 votes 33.4%John Moore-Green Party63 votes 18.3%Floyd Roland-Conservative Party47 votes 13.7%

student vote 2015

STUDENT VOTE

JOHN MOORE - GREEN PARTY

DENNIS BEVINGTON - NDP

FALCON’S FAVES!what ’s your favourite song right now?

“House of Gold”21 Pilots

“Four Five Seconds”Rihanna

SIM

ON

E W

ASH

IE

NO

AH

GIA

NG

cross countrySir John Franklin’s Cross Country Team has had yet another successful season. After many weeks of practice, these dedicated athletes delivered an amazing performance on October 2 at the NWT Cross Country Championships in Fort Providence. Under the guidance of coaches Shannon Ferreira, Maxine Lacorne, and Anglea Martin, each participant displayed tremendous effort and team spirit throughout the season.

Congratulations to all coaches and athletes on an amazing season!

Aggregate winners1st place: JH Sissons2nd place: PWKTied for 3rd place: William McDonald & Sir John Franklin

Here are some of the highlights:Team Results1st place: JH Sissons2nd place: Sir John Franklin3rd place: Deh Gah School

Individual ResultsGold: Clair LittlefairSilver: Lonan Bulger, Mary Cairns, Shannon Ferreira

Cross Country Team Members (l to r):Ms. LacorneClair LittlefairMs. FerreiraRobert PaddockEmma WilloughbyMary CairnsGrace ClarkMelissa Clark

Missing: Sophie ClarkLinda CharlieLonan Bulger

‘Cause all the cool kids - they seem to fit in!’

“Johnny, where’s your homework?” Miss Martin said sternly to the little boy while holding out her hand.

“My dog ate it,” was his solemn response.“Johnny, I’ve been a teacher for eighteen years. Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true, Miss Martin, I swear it is,” insisted Johnny. “I had to smear it with peanut butter, but I finally got him to eat it.”

route 51LOOKING BACK – A PROJECT OVERSEAS REFLECTION

Travelling and learning across cultures has offered me immeasurable insights in teaching myself, students, and colleagues within planned and/or unplanned teachable moments. First-hand experience surpasses vicarious experience, in my view, and present different levels of bemusement, gasps, and intrigues. Ghana offered my team and I members a combination of these experiences, as well as introspection. The personal experiences occurred at each center, event, national park, as well as with the host colleagues, participants and people we encountered. In spite of the expected adjustments that we have to make with catered foods and currency exchanges, the Ghanaian hospitality remains a gift that I will savor for many moons to come, and perhaps my team members and I did not plan on the volume of the goodwill from Ghanaians of all stripes. In hindsight, we may have paid an arm and a leg for excess luggage, if we had packed all the goodwill that was extended to us.

OBED Duru, Teacher – Route 51 Learning PO 2015 facilitator/participant (NWTTA)

to the following students who continue to excel academically!

AP CALCULUSRoman AsmundsonJayden FlemingJoshua Lee

AP FRENCH LANGUAGEKyra HanninenAlly MacInnisIsabel Wilson

THE GOVERNER GENERAL’S ACADEMIC MEDAL 2014-15Jade Riordan

Congratulations

The Sir John Volleyball teams traveled to Ft. Smith October 15-19 to compete in the Lawrie Hobart Memorial Volleyball tournament. This is always a great trip each year and the athletes represented the school very well. Congratulations to the Sr. Boys and Jr. Boys teams for bringing home gold medals and the cherished banners in their respective divisions. Our Sr. Girls team played the match of the tournament in the final and came home with the silver medal. The jr. Girls team played extremely well all weekend and finished the tournament with a win in the bronze medal match.

volleyball

Congratulations to all our athletes and we look forward to seeing you

take the court at Spike It!

jr. girls

sr. girls

jr. boys

sr. boys

Good Luck!

Sport School Star of the MonthLONAN BULGER

Lonan is a hard-working extremely dedicated athlete who always comes to each class with a positive attitude. He is open to learning from his teachers and his peers within the class to enhance his ability within his sport of choice - hockey. It is with great pleasure that we award Lonan the first everSport School Star of the Month

sport school news

Some of the Sport School athletes try on their new gear!

11-4

THE MUSICAL

ADVENTURES OF

STANLEY

JR. JR.

THE MUSICAL

ADVENTURES OF

FLATNOVEMBER 4 - 7NIGHTLY AT 7PM

SATURDAY MATINEE AT 2PM

TICKETS $15AAVAILABLE AT THE NACC BOX OFFICE

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN DRAMA PROUDLY PRESENTSSIR JOHN FRANKLIN DRAMA PROUDLY PRESENTS

YK

Flat Stanley

OPENINGNIGHT

November 4, 2015Get your tickets

now!

Did you know?

Most of the dances in our plays are choreographed by

our very own students!

We are having a special“SJF ONLY SHOW”

on Tuesday Nov. 3rd at7:00pm for students & staff.Tickets available from cast, crew and Mr. Daly too for

$10

The Drama club is hard at work putting the finishing touches on ‘Flat Stanley’ Staff and students were surprised on Wednesday during morning break with a flash mob highlighting one of the numbers from the play! break a leg!

To demonstrate their knowledge of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Mrs. Ferreira’s period 3 ELA 30-1 worked in groups to condense each act into a 5 minute summary. The groups were challenged to create a script (outlining characters, lines, and stage directions) using Shakespeare’s language which was later used in the filming of the act. Each student was responsible for a unique role within their group: director, writer, producer, costume/prop design, or editor. On Friday, October 23, 2015, the groups presented the video to our class and students voted on the following awards: Most Comedic, Best Use of Shakespearean Language, Most Creative, Best Costume, and Overall Best Actor/Actress. It was amazing to see the amount of creativity and effort that each student displayed

MOST COMEDIC:Vitaly Nikiforov

MOST CREATIVE PERFORMANCE:Act 5 Group: Abigale Coad, Alexandre Boucher, Brandon Pelley & Emma Ing

BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS:Conor Holick

BEST COSTUME/PROPS:Act 1 Group: Conor Holick, Susie Chambers, Laura Hodgins, Lauren Eggenberger

BEST SCRIPT ADAPTATION:Act 2 Group: Kandis Villebrun, Dana Landry, Vitaly Nikiforov, Patrick Thompson

BEST USE OF SHAKESPEAREAN LANGUAGE:Brandon Pelley

King Lear

HERE ARE THE WINNERS:

GRAD RINGSFOR SALE

December 3 & 4, 2015

WINTER PROMDecember 11, 2015

STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS

Thank you to Verna Crapeau, a guest speaker in our Northern Studies classes who shared stories to the students. Verna spoke to Colleen, Kate & Paul's Northern Studies. Verna spoke about the tradition of respect in listening to ones elders when stories were told, as she had to learn when she was young. Then she told the story of Chief Akaitcho, how he worked with Franklin, the wars he had with Chief Edzo and the great peace that he eventually formed with him.

northern studiesUPCOMING DATES

SAFETY TIP FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WALK TO SCHOOL OR WORK: BOOSTING VISIBILITY AS LIGHT LEVELS DROP. Ensure you are easily seen - especially when it’s raining or the daylight hours are shorter. Bright coloured

clothing with reflective strips on outerwear and backpacks, and lights on the front and back of bikes are a must.

On Thursday, Sept. 24 the Grade 9, 10, 12 K&E Class ventured out to the outskirts of Dettah to the B Dene Camp. There they spent the day immersed in cultural activities. Students had an opportunity to pick cranberries, net, clean and cook fish, build a campfire and make bannock and help with some light maintenance while listening to elders talk about the significance of their land and cultural traditions. It was a day to learn, listen and grow as an individual.

Dettah Camp

B. Dene Adventures educates students by using strong community relationships, knowledge of the land and by creating a relaxing and comfortable environment for learning and sharing.

Saturday, November 21 at 6:00 p.m. 

Santa Claus Parade 

Parade route:  from City Hall up 53 Street, along Franklin Avenue and down 49 Street.   

Floats:  Please check the City’s online events   calendar for informa�on and forms if you would like to enter a oat!  calendar.yellowknife.ca  

PumpkinLane

November 1 to 4.Bring your pumpkin,

family and friendsto the McMahon Frame

Lake Trail and seewhat awaits you!

John Boden texting and driving

On Tuesday, October 27, 2015 Sir John students were fortunate to have John Boden tell his story of how he became a quadriplegic. Eight years ago he was involved in a car accident in which a 17 year old girl was texting and driving. The accident left him with little feeling in his body. He is now in a wheelchair and is assisted by caregivers full-time. Recently, during his daughter’s wedding he surprised the guests by walking his daughter down the aisle. The students were quiet

and attentive while John told his story. His message is especially important considering how reliant society is on their phones. Steve Loutitt from Dept.

of Transportation says, “Recognizing that distracted driving is killing and injuring more people than impaired driving and speeding, we felt that it was important to bring in a speaker who has had this terrible life experience and to descirbe the consequences of distracted driving”

TIPS FOR DRIVERS:Remove the temptation to check your phone! Keep it in the backseat!

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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Pizza Day Santa ClausParade

Pizza DayPAC Meeting

12 NoonRemembrance

DayAssembly

Pep Rally 11-12Challenge Cup

1-5pmEd Jeske Arena

Remembrance Day

NO SCHOOL

SIP DayNO SCHOOL

Grad Parent Night

7pm in the Gym

Pizza Day

online calendarOur web designers have added a new feature to our online school calendars where parents import the school calendar to their personal google (gmail) calendars by going to their schools online calendar and clicking on the "view on google" link below the calendar. From there, all you need to do is click on the +googlecalendar button at the bottom of the calendar.

NOVEMBER 2015

Drama presents the musical adventures of ‘Flat Stanley’

Badminton Tournament

Take Your Kids to Work Day!

Grade 9

Special showing Flat Stanley

for staff & students

7pm